As part of French May Hong Kong 2014, Alisan Fine Arts is honoured to present a solo exhibition of well-known French abstract artist Fabienne Verdier. Born in France in the 1960’s and having studied in Sichuan, China for over ten years in the 1980’s, where she explored the beauty of traditional Chinese art, culture and philosophy, has given Verdier a unique perspective of the East and West; all this is reflected in her artwork. This is the first time ever that there will be a solo exhibition focusing solely on her prints.
In addition to the solo exhibition at the gallery, a selection of the works will also be on display at Art Basel Hong Kong at Alisan Fine Arts’ booth 3C39. Meanwhile, we will be participating in “Wong Chuk Hang Art Night” on 15 May (Thursday) 5-11pm which is a special event access free to the public. Shuttle bus will be available from Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre Expo Drive entrance to Alisan Fine Arts.

The series of original prints that will be on display are all made under the supervision of world -renowned French Master Printers Michel and Thérèse Caza who have worked with many great masters such as Calder, Chagall, Dali, Tàpies, Lichtenstein, Miro, Warhol and Zao Wou-ki. Their initial collaboration started in 1998 when Verdier was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture to create the poster for the Festival d’Avignon. Since then, they have created more than 20 prints together. Among the different kinds of printing technique such as etching, woodblock, lithograph, Verdier particularly likes serigraphies where she can virtually create the screens, elaborate on the specific colours herself before printing on paper manually to obtain a real sense of relief in her brushstroke, which seems to be on the verge of implosion. Verdier says "A few touches of black ink break the silence and suggest possible changes to reality. The soul of the painter delights in blending in with the elements to suddenly evoke the universe before our eyes."

In our exhibition, we will feature around twenty original prints by Verdier dating from 2005- 2012, printed in 6-8 colours or just black & white. They are very rare, especially the series of ten B/W serigraphies dated 2012, exposing a dialogue of Verdier’s abstract brush strokes with the 15th century Flemish painter, Jan Van Eyck. Similar to her paintings, each of these serigaphies is composed of the fluid movement of lines, filled with a stirring metaphysical freedom. In Verdier's own words: "I see it in a calligraphic echo, not in its genesis but in its power." Her abstraction is not a reduction of an observed world but a profound search of compressing and condensing a complexity into a form of essence.

About the Artist

Born in Paris in 1962, Fabienne Verdier graduated from Ecole des Beaux-arts de Toulouse in 1983, and in the next year, she was awarded a scholarship to study at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China, where she learned Chinese ink painting, aesthetics and philosophy of Chinese culture. After returning to France in 1994, she set up a studio close to Paris and started her dynamic abstract paintings, inspired by American, French, Chinese artists and from nature, such as Jackson Pollock's Act of Painting, Franz Kline's Abstract Expressionism, Jean Degottex’s lyrical abstraction, Chu Da’s sharp brush strokes, and from the power of a rock, movement from a branch. Energy is an important element in her work.

Since 1983, Verdier has exhibited in more than 30 solo and group exhibitions around the world, including France, UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 2011, her paintings were placed next to Pollock and Rothko in a group exhibition in Wolfsburg Art Museum, Germany. In 2013, her abstract paintings were exhibited in National Art Museum of China in Beijing. She has published three catalogues on her works and filmed a documentary on her art in 2010 and 2013. Her works are collected by important museums and organisations around the world, such as Musée National d’Art Moderne Centre Pompidou, Musée Cernuschi, Palais de l’Assemblée Nationale, Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Paris; Chinese Ministry of Culture, Beijing; Honda Group, Tokyo.